04 The Mark of Athena

“Yes. Yes, definitely. I’m sure.”
Leo raised his hands. “Okay, fine. The problem is we can only manage one landing. The way the
hull and the oars are, we won’t be able to lift off again until we repair, so we’ll have to make sure we
land somewhere with all the right supplies.”
Frank scratched his head. “Where do you get Celestial bronze? You can’t just stock up at Home
Depot.”
“Festus, do a scan.”
“He can scan for magic bronze?” Frank marveled. “Is there anything he can’t do?”
Leo thought: You should’ve seen him when he had a body. But he didn’t say that. It was too painful,
remembering the way Festus used to be.
Leo peered over the ship’s bow. The Central California valley was passing below. Leo didn’t hold
out much hope that they could find what they needed all in one place, but they had to try. Leo also
wanted to put as much distance as possible between himself and New Rome. The Argo II could cover
vast distances pretty quickly, thanks to its magical engine, but Leo figured the Romans had magic
travel methods of their own.
Behind him, the stairs creaked. Percy and Annabeth climbed up, their faces grim.
Leo’s heart stumbled. “Is Jason—?”
“He’s resting,” Annabeth said. “Piper’s keeping an eye on him, but he should be fine.”
Percy gave him a hard look. “Annabeth says you did fire the ballista?”
“Man, I—I don’t understand how it happened. I’m so sorry—”
“Sorry?” Percy growled.